Editorial: New lines drawn in gun debate

The gun control discussion has followed a familiar pattern in recent years whenever America worked out the grief and anger of a mass shooting. Cry tears. Talk tough. Mark time. Fade away.

What happened at Sandy Hook Elementary School in December put President Barack Obama on the clock. Would he join the pattern of distraught, do-something speech backed by little more in the end? Or would this be the mass shooting that would actually serve as motivation to make some changes? And in the face of such evil - the kind that descended on grade-school classrooms and killed 20 children and six staff members in Newtown, Conn. - can revised laws and executive orders actually offer greater safety?

Obama answered some of that Wednesday when he outlined a series of measures he said is aimed in one direction: "This is our first task as a society - keeping our children safe."

Among the moves, Obama is calling for universal background checks on all gun buyers, the renewal of a ban on military-style assault weapons, a limit of 10 bullets in a clip and funding to cover more security in schools. He also called for a program intended to help identify mental illness early in an effort to get help for young people who need it.

The reaction immediately after the president's announcement shows just how difficult any gun control effort will be - and why presidents and Congress have been mortified to take it on. Even from his own party, there were pockets of lukewarm interest, including from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.

The reason for high-capacity clips matched with assault-style weapons remains a mystery. The other pieces offered by Obama are reasonable in a gun control discussion overdue in Congress.

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Editorial: New lines drawn in gun debate

The gun control discussion has followed a familiar pattern in recent years whenever America worked out the grief and anger of a mass shooting. Cry tears. Talk tough. Mark time. Fade away.